Checkbook register

Being a fan of Dave Ramsey I try to implement alot of what he teaches. Okay everything he teaches. One thing he mentions is keeping your checking account/check book balanced. Well in today's world of on-line banking you can see what is going on at the bank in real time however it was important to me to master this skill.

I started out with good old fashioned pen and paper, but found it increasing difficult to keep it up. I would always get messed up if I forgot to make an entry or if I entered an entry incorrectly. I'm a little OCD so trying to correct these made a mess so didn't sit well with me. Additionally, whenever it did come to balancing the account I would be off by some bizarre amount.

Well I started researching what software was available to help keep track of these things. I tried mint and yodlee and I know years ago I tried quick books and microsoft money too. I would always get frustrated with this type of software as you would typically download your transactions and things wouldn't always jive and I felt that they only told me where my money went than managing my money. Now this probably had more to do with user error than anything, but needless to say, it didn't work for me.

I finally came across clearcheckbook.com ! This met my criteria exactly. You manually input transactions-like the old fashioned pen and paper method, it has an on-line interface as well as mobile apps for both andriod and iphone and I can reconcile my account properly. So I can see if checks that I've written have cleared or on-line purchases with my debit card. It even has scheduled reminders for items that automatically hit your account each month. Did I mention its free?

Now if you swipe your debit card like a crazy person I can see how the manual entry thing could get exhausting but I love that when I get my bank statement I can go down the line of items and check them off and that the balances match. If for some reason things don't balance its much simpler to double check my transactions and make any necessary changes.

I was able to set up budgets so I can see at a glance where we stand. And I love that Ben and I can see what's going on with our accounts in real time on the go. Now we are just trying to figure out how long we should keep receipts! How long do you keep yours?

Financial Peace University

So over 5 years ago one of the most amazing things happened in my life...I became a mother. For many when you experience a major life event, things fall into perspective. One of those things for me was my finances.

My precious pumpkin!!

So I have to back up a bit. Before Cordelia came along I thought it was okay to live paycheck to paycheck, to have a credit card with a recurring balance and only pay the minimum balance, to buy a house 100% financed and the last big financial mistake I made was when I got my last big pay raise I  brought a brand new car on finance (it only had something like 30 miles on it when I drove it off the lot). 

What's the matter with that? it's normal right?? Well let me tell you normal sucks! I can't remember how but I came across Dave Ramsey when I was about 6 months pregnant and something inside of me clicked I think I was finally tired and fed up of working hard and not having a thing to show for it especially any money. After researching his teachings on-line I remembered a conversation I had had several years before with an acquaintance explaining to me that being debt free is the best and cash is king and I seriously thought they were crazy and argued that I needed my credit card. Wow how I was eating my words now!

Well I got as gazelle intense as I could before Cordelia was born, I even sold my car! I was blessed as it was a Honda and had kept its value so I only had to come out of pocket $500 to get out of that deal. I think that was the last $500 I saw for awhile as I remember it taking me forever to even get my mini emergency fund.  But I persevered! After my mini emergency fund was done I really wanted to go through Financial Peace University (FPU), when Cordelia was about 9 months I found that a local church was running the course and they provided free child care..Another blessing. I really enjoyed the course and the community that I felt when attending.  

This little box changes lives..well the content does!

The biggest things that have helped me through this journey and still do, is the budget (I'm a geek so love it ) and the envelope system. I would encourage everyone to either attend FPU or read one of Dave's books. You'll be glad you did..the worst thing that could happen is you save some money : )!

Going Green-2013 Theme

So it has recently come to my attention that "Green" is really the theme for me in 2013.

• Eating green...enjoying green smoothies and juices 

• Looking after my green (money) with Dave Ramsey's financial peace university

• Greening the grid...through Viridian an affordable green energy supplier 

At the end of last year I watched the movie fat, sick and nearly dead.  I loved Joe Cross' humor and how down to earth he came across in the movie and really took to heart his message of food is our medicine. This started my journey into juicing which quickly turned into a love for plantpower (aka plant based nutrition) and all things natural and healthy.

Somehow this really got me thinking about the things that I am passionate about (outside of my religion and family) and I had to chuckle because they all had one thing in common....GREEN!

So here I am to share my passions with you!

Most recently I had the pleasure of volunteering alongside my fellow Independent Viridian associates at Pennington Park.

This was an eye opening experience to see how modern life is having an impact on our local ecosystem. We were informed that birds in the area are now starting to make there nests from bits of plastic as there is so much of it in there habitats. It was great to be able to do what we could in our time there but there was still so much more to be done.  With other local volunteers we were able to collect 2.5 tons (5,020 lbs) of litter and debris from along the shoreline of the Rancocas Creek. This included 17 tires, 22 barrels, and various bottles, cans and Styrofoam packaging. Here are a few photo's from my day.

This is what we were finding in the creek bed.

The dumpster! Yes, the barrels were pulled from the creek too!

One of the many hauls to that were taken to the dumpster

Trash bags filled with plastic bottles, food packaging and misc debris

Did I mention it started snowing when we were cleaning up!